What Became of You
by writersword
Summary: 2017: Ten years can change a lot, but some things will always be the same. Tyler’s alone, Pogue battles his own demons, Caleb’s life isn’t as perfect as it seems, and Reid is head over heels in love.
1. Prologue

What Became of You

Note: This story takes place ten years after the Covenant movie, since the movie was in September of 2006, they would have graduated in 2007 and ten years would make it 2017.

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Disclaimer: I do not own The Covenant and am making no money from this. The title comes from the Death Cab for Cutie song "Cath," which I also do not own.

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_AN: I've been working on this for a long time, it has taken up a lot of my hours of work, thought and conversations (thanks Emmie!). Its finished with a sequel in progress, I'll wait a few days between chapters, depending on the response I get. This is a new thing for me and I'm a little self-conscious about letting it out into the world, please ease my fears with reviews to let me know what you think. Thank you, and enjoy!_

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Prologue

The invitation sat on the counter, just like every other piece of mail that entered his house, but even before he opened it, Tyler Simms knew, this was no ordinary letter. The return address was Spenser Academy, the same name that his diploma read, he should have known this was coming; his last birthday should have warned him, twenty-eight suddenly seemed older than ever before. The font was large and bubbly with balloons and streamers decorating the card, extremely uncharacteristic of Spenser, and those horribly mocking words: Ten Year Reunion.

There was no way he was going. He wouldn't have gone if someone had offered him a million dollars, of course after the death of his father two years earlier he had plenty of millions of his own, billions even. But then Reid called, the last person he ever expected to want to go, actually explaining to him why they _had_ to go. Through the entire conversation all Tyler could think of was that Wednesday almost three years ago when Reid had come into Manhattan, where Tyler was studying at Cornell's NYC campus, from Brooklyn to surprise Tyler for lunch. From the moment he found the blonde, leaning against the wall outside his morning class, he'd known something was up. Maybe it was the way he'd said "my treat", almost like he was begging his friend to go with him. Reid had been living in the Big Apple for a few months and they'd gotten together a couple of times, but it'd been awkward at best. It had been a long time since the two of them were close.

The story finally came out after they ordered. Reid had looked at him, with a look he had never seen before. "I met someone."

Not until he said it did Tyler get it, the womanizer had finally fallen in love. It explained all the moving around Reid had done in recent years, after dropping out of Dartmouth he'd moved to Los Angels for a few years and then Las Vegas, and then, in December, back east, it was May now. The thought of his once best friend falling for someone made him happier than he expected it too, he found himself babbling.

"That's great, man. Is it that big of a deal for you to be dating someone? I mean, we could have all gone out, I'm sure April would love to meet her, so would I." The part about April, Tyler's wife wasn't true, she didn't love meeting anyone, especially one of Tyler's friends. "Does she like Chinese food? We could go to Chinatown and…" When the smile dropped from Reid's face he changed courses. "What's wrong? No to Chinese?" He joked but Reid shook his head, looking uncomfortable. "Is she one of my ex's?" He guessed, "Is she married or something?"

"Baby Boy, " Reid interrupted. Tyler scowled at the name; no matter if he was thirteen or twenty-five, he was always Baby Boy. His friend's face quivered back in forth between a nervous smile and worried frown. Closing his eyes, he finally said it in a calm, even tone, that was part explanatory and part begging for acceptance. "It's a guy, Ty. I'm gay."

It had only been a week later that Tyler met Jonathan, Reid's boyfriend of five months, who, to Tyler's limited knowledge in the subject area, seemed just as straight as he'd always thought Reid was. Three years later, and the two where still together, happily sharing an apartment in Brooklyn. Jonathan was the head chef at a major restaurant and Reid managed a small tattoo parlor, mainly so he could continue to cover himself in ink and no one could give him shit about it.

As Tyler listened to Reid explain the fact that they were the "Freaking Sons of Ipswich" and that "Spenser wouldn't be the same with out us, Baby Boy" again and _again_, he decided to trade his coffee out for Scotch. He was on call at the hospital but one drink wouldn't kill him. He needed it as the possibility his returning to his Alma Mater became more and more realistic with every word out of the blonde's mouth.

* * *

The entire building was too depressing to even be expressed. It seemed slightly ironic to Pogue Perry, since the institute treated depression along side addiction.

Addiction, that was a laugh, what did these people know about addiction? They had never experienced the sing of the Power that coursed though his brothers and his own veins, but yet here he was receiving "treatment" for his "addiction" to performance-enhancing steroids. To him all of it seemed ridiculous.

Fresh out of college, he'd tried out for the USA swimming team on more of a dare than anything, he'd never thought he'd go to the Olympics and win a gold medal for his country. At first the "pick me ups" as he'd always called them, where just that, a little boost to help him out, but a few months ago even he could see the difference in himself, his attitude, his body. He looked like he did back in high school at twenty-eight, something he'd lost somewhere between Kate's untimely pregnancy, their hasty marriage, and trying to take care of a baby at only twenty.

Kate. It still hurt him when he thought of her and their son, Jacob, still living in Ipswich. He hadn't gone to see them, called them, not even an e-mail for months, he still sent money, not that she needed it, even without her high-paying job, her parent's trust fund, she still had complete access to all of his accounts, they were still married after all. Banks didn't care if you'd separated two years or not, they didn't care that she had gone back to her maiden name, that she had broken his heart, again, packing up all her stuff and moved back home, taking his son, his heir, with her.

Pogue put the last of the few clothes he'd brought with him to Connecticut in his beat up duffle and slid on his jacket. His plane ticket was on the dresser of his room; the lobby would call him a taxi to the airport when he checked out. He was going home, finally. Home was currently Phoenix, Arizona, his own small, somewhat lonely house, completely different from Ipswich, just like he'd always wanted, or so he thought.

There were plenty of addiction facilities in Arizona, even in Phoenix alone, but Lake Waters Institute for the Addicted or Disturbed (not to be confused with Lake Waters Retirement Center only a quarter mile down the road) was where he ended up thanks to Jane Quinn, his agent, who apparently had a brother who'd done time there when he was sixteen.

A nurse—he thought her name was Madison, but he wasn't sure—came into his room smiling in the sugary-sweet way. "Your ride asked me to tell you that he's here."

His ride? Had they already called him a cab? A thought crossed his mind, no, he wouldn't. He grabbed his stuff and shot down the long hallway to the lobby, gripping his ticket tightly in his hand. He rounded the corner, and just like he'd feared, he was sitting there.

"I have a plane to catch, Caleb." The dark haired man stood, straightening his jacket on his shoulders, completely unaffected by Pogue's angered state.

"No, you don't," His voice was clipped, years of knowing Caleb so well telling him there was anger hidden beneath the surface. "You're coming home, where you belong."

Pogue pressed his lips together, a bitter laugh begging to make its way through. "Says who?" He turned and tiredly crossed the lobby to the front desk.

"Me."

Pogue snorted but kept walking, "I'm a grown man, Caleb. You can't boss me around anymore."

"And Kate." At the sound of his wife's name he stopped, finding Caleb right next to him, like he'd expected. "She called me a few days ago and asked me to bring you home. She's been trying to give you your space but she misses you. Jake misses you. He's eight now, y'know?"

"I know how old my own son is." He still wouldn't look at his best friend.

"That's funny," He could hear Caleb crossing the floor, his shoes loud against the tile, as he took a few steps away from his brother. "Because he doesn't even know where his dad is." Pogue didn't bother gracing him with and answer. "Can we at least go somewhere and talk about this, Pogue? We'll eat?" Caleb offered, knowing his best friend had issues turning away a chance at food. Damn you lousy weaknesses.

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"So I'm twenty-six, Kate just left me," Pogue wiped his mouth with the crumpled napkin he had, until that point, been keeping balled in his fist. "And one day after practice, a guy offered me a pick-me-up, and I liked it." He paused and ran a hand through his still long and unruly hair. "And from there it just went to shit, I Used to pass drug tests and I probably would have kept going if I hadn't collapsed at practice that day."

"What would you think of moving back to Ipswich, just for a couple of months to figure out what your next step is?" Caleb couldn't help but sit forward in hope but Pogue shook his head.

"I don't want to be there anymore." He looked away from his friend, out the window. "How're the guys?" He asked in hopes of changing the subject.

"Fine." Caleb told him shortly before returning to the task at hand. "Don't you miss Jacob and Kate?

Pogue dropped his napkin onto his empty plate. "More than anything." He admitted, resting his forehead on his hand. "But I think I've lost her for good this time, man."

"Maybe," Caleb said but Pogue snorted. "Probably," He edited himself. "But maybe you can win your kid back before he forgets who you are. How about just a weekend and then if you want to leave, I will buy you a ticket to wherever you're going." Caleb raised his eyebrows and smiled as much as he could muster.

Caleb was convincing and damn good in an argument, no wonder he was the top defense attorney in Massachusetts. "What's the catch?" Pogue mumbled lazily.

Caleb's hand disappeared into his jacket before coming back, holding an invitation. "It's our Ten-year Reunion."

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	2. Chapter 1: Friday

_Author's note: I know it's been forever, sorry. This chapter was hard because I had to completely rewrite it, the rest are just in need of basic edits and updates with (hopefully) be much quicker from now on. Thanks for reading, enjoy!_

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Chapter 1: Friday

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"Why do I have a sneaky little feeling this is going to end horribly?" Samantha McCauley leaned over the front seat and inserted herself into the conversation. Her older brother, Jonathan, frowned but didn't look away from the slick, twisting road. Reid had been right, it was raining in Ipswich.

"Not helping Sam." Jonathan informed her before sparing a look to Reid in the passenger seat, who was nervously staring out the window to the cold and gloomy conditions. His mood seemed to be deteriorating, much like the weather, as their destination drew closer. "We don't have to do this, we can turn around and forget about it. I swear I will never bring it up again." He took a hand off the wheel to squeeze Reid's knee affectionately.

This got a smile from the blonde. "I made everyone come, I can't just not show up."

"Sure you can," Sam, who really didn't know why she was even there in the first place, it wasn't like _she_ had graduated from Spenser, piped up from the back. "Or, we could just tell them its you and me who are all lovey-dovey. We could fake it, we did date for what was it? One or two years? Do you count the engagement as part of the dating or is it a separate thing to itself?"

"Sam, it's time to shut up." Her brother said bluntly, he'd learned it was the easiest way to deal with his odd younger sister, as he pulled off the highway onto a smaller road. "Reid made up his mind, its time they knew anyway. They are his family after all. Besides, I thought you were over that, it has been three years."

Suddenly she swung one long leg over the seat and then the other, before her bony butt landed between the two boys on the center consol. "You never get over your first love…" She turned to glare playfully at Reid. "Especially if he cheated on you with your _brother_."

Reid couldn't help but laugh, of all of his screw-ups, what he'd done to Sam was the worst. He'd really thought she was the one, he'd even told her about the Covenant, asked her to marry him, he had believed he was in love for the first time in his life. Then he met her brother at Christmas and his somewhat normal life suddenly got picked up and spun around. He had finally seen what love was and found that he didn't feel it for Sam. At all. _Gay_ was not a new label for him, but it was the first time he'd accepted it instead of fighting against it for all he was worth. He was getting too old to play head games with himself.

Soon the mass of the Danvers Estate rolled into view and the formally suppressed nerves crept back into his throat. Suddenly all he could see was Caleb and the tired agitated face that he'd donned during any of Reid's many antics in high school, that look of shame and disappointment…"Change of plan," Reid announced. "I can't do this."

"Golden!" Sam cheered as she reached into the back for her bag. She came back with a diamond engagement ring attached to her third finger.

"What's that?" Reid asked as Jonathan pulled the sports car to a stop at the gate.

"If I have to pretend to be in love with you, I might as well get to wear my ring." Reid rolled his eyes and climbed out to punch in the entrance code. The gate swung open and they continued up the long drive way.

"Is that the ring I gave you?" The blonde asked, shaking the rain from his hair.

"Maybe." Sam said guiltily while admiring how it looked on her finger. "It's so shiny." She added fondly, mostly to herself, lost in the rainbows it reflected, even in the rain. At twenty-three, she was the baby of the family, Jonathan the middle child at twenty-six. Being the youngest meant she could act like a little girl forever and no one would say anything about it.

The two boys shared an eye roll behind the girl's head, they may be gay, but they were still men and still would never understand women, if anything, they were at more of a loss. Sam snapped out of her daze and regarded her "fiancé" again. "Why won't you just tell them, you told Tyler ages ago and he took it fine."

"It's complicated," Reid mumbled. "Ty's my best friend and the other two are still family but, it's different. I'm younger than they are so they've always tried to control me. Especially Caleb." Reid shifted nervously in his seat as the mansion continued to get bigger and with every inch of their approach he lost time until he had to face them with a big, fake smile on his face, and small, fake fiancée attached to his arm.

"He can't be that bad." Jonathan joined the conversation as he parked and turned off the car.

"No, worse." Reid told him as the front door of the mansion opened and the man in question stepped out, quickly followed by his pretty little college sweetheart of a wife, who held their younger son, Michael, on her hip, while six-year-old James hung near the doorway. "All of them," He continued almost bitterly. "They're perfect."

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A nearly twenty-hour shift was enough to make anyone irritable. Doing it with a hangover guaranteed a very grumpy Tyler Simms. It wasn't until he changed from his scrubs back into the jeans and t-shirt he'd been wearing nearly a day ago and checked his messages on his phone, that Caleb's wife, Meredith reminded him that he was supposed to be eating dinner at their house an hour ago. He cursed under his breath, though he wasn't sure if it was because he was running late or that he had to go at all.

Since April had left him, since Pogue moved across the country, since Reid had…fallen in love, it had become easier and easier to slip into the background and not be noticed, just the way he wanted it. Of course he wasn't ignored, Caleb and Meredith always wanted to have him over for dinner and Reid and Jonathan asked him to come into the city for a weekend every time they talked, he always turned them down, all he wanted was to be left alone.

She had been everything he'd thought he wanted, beautiful, smart, sweet. Her looks her were classical with long red hair and porcelain skin, with no old family money, her brains alone had scored her a spot in Princeton along with himself, it was how they had met. Her charm was captivating, that cute thing she did with her nose when she laughed, magical. Her name was April and he had loved her. He still loved her. Their relationship was quick, he proposed after only six months, and knocked her up on their honeymoon. They were only nineteen and even before Christopher had been born, she was saying that they had rushed into things. That was the beginning of the end.

Their not-so-happy little marriage lasted all of six years. She left him for some big time architect that held a an uncanny resemblance to Leonardo DiCaprio. She had left in a fit of tears and curses, taking his son, his little boy, with her. He hadn't seen the kid since, at the custody meeting she'd called him an unfit father, because of the Covenant, which she'd never fully accepted and refused to let her son become a part of, not that she had any control over it. She'd stolen his heart and tore it into bits. That had been years ago but it still hurt as if it was yesterday.

Tyler braced himself as he parked his car and headed to the front of the mansion. He'd promised he'd be there when Reid arrived, bringing Jonathan and hopefully enough guts to tell Caleb and Pogue the truth. The red sports car in the drive told him he had left another promise unfulfilled. He let himself inside and took off his jacket.

"Thank God you're here." Jonathan was standing in the hallway, looking uncomfortable, but smiling at Tyler. He was tall and muscular with an angular features and a wide smile that, when it appeared, took up most of his face. Tyler wished he were secure enough in his masculinity to notice if Jonathan was attractive, like Reid always wanted him to, but unfortunately he wasn't.

"They take it bad?" Tyler guessed, stifling a yawn, he needed coffee, right now.

"Not at all, as in, he didn't tell them." Jonathan ran his hands through his hair with frustration. "I told him I'd let him do this his own way, but this," He pointed toward the living room with one hand. "This is ridiculous."

And ridiculous it was, there his best friend sat, an arm resting around a girl Tyler didn't recognize. Reid was smiling tightly in that way he did when he felt overwhelmed and the polite smiles of Caleb and his wife were stiff and nervous.

The girl was talking but it wasn't until Tyler had stood in the doorway and listened for a few moments that he realized why everyone seemed so on edge. He only caught the end of her tale, but when a story ends, "So when I got out of jail, the drug dealer bought me breakfast." You tend assume the rest was, if anything, much less normal.

Everyone snapped out of the strange universe the unnamed girl had sent them into. Reid started laughing, as if he was trying to make a joke of the whole situation, but Caleb's face stayed serious, calculating as he tried to figure out Reid's latest story.

"Hey Tyler." Caleb's wife, Meredith, suddenly jumped up from the couch to greet him. She wrapped her arms around him, glad to be away from the conversation, and ushered him into the kitchen. Her dark hair swung back and forth as she got out a mug and quickly filled it with coffee and fixed it just how he liked it, maybe he looked more tired then he thought.

"I'm sorry I'm late." He was still in shock from what he'd seen and heard, his mind running too slow from lack of sleep.

"It's fine, I have other things to worrying about." The perky girl he'd known since he was nineteen seemed for the first time truthfully worn out.

"What's going on?" He didn't care quite enough, maybe tomorrow, but it was the only thing he knew to say.

"Just Pogue," She rolled her eyes, glancing at him in a knowing way, hoping to connect with him, unfortunately he had no idea what she was talking about. Tyler could tell that wasn't all that was bothering her.

"What—" He began to ask before Caleb, who was suddenly in the kitchen pouring himself more coffee, cut him off.

"Nothing." Meredith shot him a look but he remained as composed as always. "Just jet-lag, he's asleep." This was a lie and they all knew it but the truth wasn't Caleb's to tell, just like Reid's secret wasn't Tyler's. "Besides, we have bigger things to worry about, like this girl, what's her name?" Her turned from Tyler to Meredith.

"Samantha, and I like her, sure she's a little…" Meredith searched for the right word.

"Weird." Caleb supplied.

"_Different_," Meredith corrected. "But I think it's time Reid got married." Meredith smoothed her ponytail.

Tyler choked on his coffee, he must have heard her wrong, sure Reid was an idiot, but he was not taking this far. "Married?" He managed between coughs, his mug landing on the counter with more force than necessary.

Caleb nodded, two fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. "I knew he was lying."

"Why would he lie about getting married?" Meredith asked, clearly she did not know Reid Garwin.

"He probably just felt self-conscious about being alone so he made up some story." Caleb told her. Tyler resisted the urge to roll his eyes, if only they knew how not alone Reid was.

"He's always been more comfortable with a lie than the truth." Tyler mumbled.

He pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes, this was too much, he was too tired, he had to get out of here, go home and find some excuse to avoid all them for the weekend. Maybe he could even skip the reunion, pick up another few shifts at the hospital. Or he could just lock himself up in his house and not answer the phone and drink until he couldn't see straight; it had worked before and sounded pretty damn good to him. But Reid was here now, and along with being a gutless liar, he was also one stubborn son of a bitch.

"I'm about to crash," He told Meredith and Caleb honestly, pouring out what was left of his coffee (not much), and left the mug in the sink. "I'll see you guys later, thanks for the coffee." One hand ranking his hair that was in need of a cut from his face, the other at the base of his skull where a headache was blossoming onto a migraine.

Caleb caught his shoulder as he turned to leave. "You shouldn't work such long shifts, its not healthy." Caleb was, had been since they were thirteen, and probably forever would be the father of the group. He would drive himself to the grave worrying about his brothers.

Tyler shook him off, "I'm fine, Caleb, really." He swallowed and forced a smile onto his lips. Caleb frowned, looking doubtful, but let him go. Tyler waved to everyone as he passed through the living room and made a break for the door. The cold March air chilled him through his coat as he made his way to his car, suppressing a yawn. The relief of being free of the tension of the Danvers mansion and the trouble within it was short lived. He hadn't even dug his keys from his pocket when Reid was in front of him, his skinny, bony hands grasping at his friend's coat and a smile on his pale face.

"I haven't seen you in months and you aren't even going to say hello?" Tyler was irritable and Reid was breaking a law of the Covenant: he was lying to his brothers. He glared at him heavily, trying to sidestep the blonde, but he wouldn't let him pass.

"Who is she anyway?" He hissed to show his anger. "Please tell me you didn't hire her." He added fearfully.

"What? You mean Sam? No, she's Jonny's sister, I used to date her before…remember?" Reid rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably.

This lit up in Tyler's brain, the story was something he'd had trouble believing, it was really too cruel. To go to Christmas with your fiancée, meet her family and end up falling for her brother, it was something straight off of _The Jerry Springer Show_. He'd tried really, really hard to just be happy for his friend, because everyone deserved to have love in their lives, but he couldn't help but feel for the poor girl who had only been twenty at the time. Love was a bloody game and a lot of hearts had to get crushed in the process, he knew that better than anyone.

"Look, man," Reid seemed to shrink a bit, all the bravado from inside the mansion gone as he leaned against the Mercedes Tyler had traded the Hummer in for a few years ago. Tyler didn't know how he was around Jonathan, but he'd always liked to think Reid was his most relaxed, the most himself around Tyler, he didn't have to be fake, and couldn't lie to save his life around him. "I got here and I saw Caleb with his family and he's been the 'good guy' he does the right thing, gets married has two kids, and I'm the screw up, I fell in love with a guy, I didn't go to college, I work in a tattoo parlor instead of some fancy office like him… I do everything wrong in his eyes… I just couldn't tell him."

Tyler sighed, some of his anger deflating, too exhausted to feel such powerful emotions. He rubbed his forehead where a headache was forming. "She does know this is fake, right?" He clarified, relieved when Reid nodded. "If this blows up in your face do I have your complete permission to laugh?"

Reid ran both hands over his face before reluctantly answering. "Yes."

"Alright, I'm about to collapse, I'll see you tomorrow? At the brunch thing?" Tyler motioned with his hand vaguely.

A smile cracked Reid's face. "Yeah, I do love a good brunch." He smiled and held out his fist for Tyler to tap with his. "I'll see you later, man."

Reid walked back to the house, shivering from the cold. At the door he stopped and watched Tyler drive out the gate, he wished he'd had longer to talk to him, maybe then he would have said what he was thinking, told him what he needed to hear, even if he wouldn't like it. It was just a few simple words: don't get drunk tonight, don't drink anymore, don't destroy your life this way. Tyler, please, please, listen to me, don't do this to yourself anymore.

But he didn't say anything and probably never would because he didn't want to risk their friendship the way he ruined his and Tyler's back in high school. The kid'd had the guts to tell him the truth, the cold honest truth that Caleb had been trying to beat into his head for years: quit Using or you're going to die, stop now before you destroy everything. Reid had not liked it just enough to pull back from the friendship, and suddenly Tyler stopped reaching for him so he'd fallen, down, down, into the deepest hole he'd ever been in with no way to get out and the waves pulling him more and more under.

He and Tyler's lifelong friendship had been ruined in that way and they'd never gotten it back, sure since Reid had moved back east and finally come to terms with who he was, they'd become close but it was nothing like before. If he was totally honest with himself, Reid would realize that Tyler, Tyler who never had said anything before about Reid's Using had, in that one time, saved his life in a way Caleb had been trying and failing to do since they turned thirteen.

* * *

"You're going to the brunch tomorrow." Caleb announced to Pogue when he snuck into the kitchen well past midnight. The older of the two men, not that it mattered much now that they were twenty-eight, had quickly slipped into the routine from a few years ago, the last time Pogue had lived with him, just camp out in the kitchen until he shows up. Pogue was still as predicable as always, in a constant state of hungry.

"I'm a grown man, Caleb." Pogue answered, using the same words from a few days before, opening the fridge in search of food. "And you're not my father, so I think I get to make my own decisions."

"You agreed to come home for the reunion, you at least need to go to it." Caleb's voice was solid like it always was.

Rage suddenly blazed through him and he couldn't control the Power as it crept up his spine. "Don't think for once second I came here for this damn reunion." He turned to face his brother, his body shaking with anger and his eyes black.

"Then why?" Caleb's voice hadn't changed, he knew better than to react to Pogue's tantrums.

"I need to see my kid. If he's going to have a screw up for a dad, the least I can do is let him know who I am." The Power subsided, his eyes again hazel and Caleb was smiling at him softly.

"We'll talk to Kate tomorrow?" He asked. "At the brunch." To Caleb's relief Pogue nodded and he left his friend to eat in peace, more than ready for bed.

Meredith was still awake, staring anxiously at the baby monitor that sat on their night table. "Is he okay?" Caleb asked his wife, motioning toward the monitor. Their two-year-old son, Michael, hadn't been sleeping well lately, among other things.

"Yeah, I just…" Her bottom lip quivered, closing her eyes tightly. The last month had been hard on her and she happy to have people to entertain to get her mind off things, but now it was night and everyone was gone and there was no secrets to keep or meals to fix and she was left in the drowning worry that seemed to be the only emotion she had the ability to feel.

Caleb slipped into bed beside his wife and held her as close as he could, kissing away the tears but they just kept coming, there was no healing the pain she felt.

The lump was small, she'd found it one night while giving Michael his bath, in the midst of rubber ducks and bubble bath and his joyous giggles she had almost missed it, the way she must have for months at least, on his neck, just below where his baby soft black hair ended was the tiny bump on her son that had suddenly changed their lives.

Weeks of testing had followed and now the date was closing in when they would finally have the answer, they would know if there were any defense against this small, seemingly harmless knob, or if it was going to kill their little boy, a thought neither of them had been able to consider.


	3. Chapter 2: Saturday, part 1

Chapter 2: Saturday, part 1

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"Sam, get up!" Jonathan beat on the door loudly. "You're going to be late if you don't get up now." Suddenly the door swung inward and he was looking down at his very sleepy and very angry little sister.

"Why don't you just go? You're the one that knows them." She rubbed some sleep from her eye.

"I know Tyler, that's all. Don't you think it'd be strange for Reid to bring me instead of his fiancée?" He smiled wryly.

She smirked at him and then abruptly straightened. "I'm not going. Have fun." She turned on her heel and slammed the door in his face.

"Sam, come on!" He banged his hands on the door once more before giving up and letting his head fall into his hands, sighing in frustration.

"Is she driving you mad?" At the sound of Reid's voice Jonathan instantly brightened. He turned to the blonde, who was still in only the plaid pajama pants he'd worn to bed, the tattoos that covered his body standing out against the white skin.

"One of these days, I swear, I'm gonna kill her." Reid laughed stepping closer and running his hands over his boyfriend's toned biceps.

"You've made it twenty-three years with her around, it'd be a waste of hard work to turn back now." Jonathan laughed hollowly and brought his hand up to trace his name wear it was sewn into Reid's skin, along the top of his collarbone. The blonde had gotten it almost two years ago as a surprise for Jonny's birthday. They'd been fooling around and there it was, in black script, _Jonathan._ Reid sighed deeply as his lover's fingertips grazed his collarbone. "Do you want some coffee?"

"No, I need to get ready," He told Reid and then loudly, so Samantha could hear added, "The princess is refusing to accompany her fiancé to the brunch so the "roommate" is filling in." They both laughed at the story they'd told his friends that may as well have been family.

Sam's door opened again. "Move along," She shooed them. "I'm trying to sleep."

"You're not doing a very good job, you're standing, and your eyes are open." Reid's smirk appeared. "I don't think you understand the concept."

She stuck her tongue out at him immaturely and Reid returned it. Jonathan rolled his eyes, "Are you guys five years old, really?" He turned back toward the master suite where he and Reid were staying, dragging the blonde away with him.

"You need to wear long sleeves," Jonny told Reid a few minutes later as they got dressed to leave. "I don't think the Spenser is ready to see… all of that." He gestured to Reid's arms, which were both covered in tattoos, as were his chest and back. The blonde nodded and crossed the room to Jonathan's suitcase, knowing he'd probably packed a long sleeved shirt, whereas the thought had slipped his own mind. Triumphantly, he pulled the black shirt over his head, successfully hiding most of his tattoos. As good as it was gonna get.

"You did bring a tux didn't you? You need it for the reunion tonight." Jonny called from the bathroom, carefully shaving his handsome face.

"Yep," He bounded into the attached bathroom and jumped to sit on the counter next to the sink. "What would I do without you?" He asked sarcastically.

"You would have married my sister." Jonathan answered seriously and Reid rolled his eyes. No one usually brought it up, for a while it had bothered them all severely but then, after it had stopped mattering, it seemed as though they'd all just forgotten.

"Must I be constantly remained? It's been three years." Reid asked as Jonathan finished shaving and dried his face.

"Only this weekend," He winked at his lover. "Go get dressed, we need to leave soon.

"How about not." Reid wrapped his legs around Jonny's waist, pulling him closer. Ever since puberty had abruptly struck him the summer of his thirteenth birthday, he'd been oddly long and skinny, like someone had stretched him, this had continued into his adulthood. Jonathan let the overly long thin limbs cross behind his back, and pull his hips to the counter. They kissed for only a moment but it sent the brunette's head spinning.

"I love you." Reid said simply against his lips. Jonathan groaned and wrapped his arms around the blonde, and deepening the kiss. Only Reid could make him feel this way. He'd had other boyfriends, fallen hard for total jerks and been head over heels for some really great guys. Unlike Reid, he had been dating men since high school, but no one ever drove him crazy like Reid did, no one made him feel the "forever" kind of passion he felt for the blonde in his arms. They were going to be late to the brunch, if they made it at all.

* * *

The brunch was being held in the school cafeteria and gave all the ex-Spenser attendees a strange sense of déjà vu. Tyler felt uncomfortable and wished he'd opted out. He was hung over, not an oddity for him, but still an unpleasant reminder of his loneliness. Pogue, in front of him, was silent as they slowly made their way through the buffet line, Caleb and Meredith in front of them.

"So, I haven't seen you since…" Tyler tried to make conversation with Pogue, but couldn't remember the last time he'd seen his own brother in all but blood.

"London." Pogue filled in. "The Olympics." He didn't look up from behind the curtain of long hair he still wore and Tyler couldn't shake the impending feeling something was wrong with his usually laid back friend. He put it off as the separation from Kate and having to see her again, anyone would dread that, the drama queen wasn't exactly what anyone would call easy to deal with. Tyler thought of having to spend time with April, his ex-wife was a cold, heartless bitch that he loved in spite of himself, and had only seen once since she'd left him, at the custody hearing, which he'd lost and hadn't been allowed to see his son since.

"Right." Tyler agreed but he could barley believe it, four years, really? He quickly did the math in his head, he'd been with April by then, but she'd stayed behind with Chris. They were living New York so he could go to Cornell for med school. This was back when Reid still lived LA, before he'd met Sam in Las Vegas. By the time Tyler graduated and returned to Ipswich, Pogue was in Arizona.

"So you're training, right? Summer Olympics coming up this year? Where is it this time?" Tyler rambled a bit. Tyler thought he saw Caleb glance back at them, hearing the topic, but neither of them said anything.

"Is Reid here?" Pogue bluntly ignored to question as he scooped hash browns onto his plate.

"He should be," Tyler looked around the room for his blonde friend but didn't spot him.

* * *

Jonathan carried Reid, whose legs were still wrapped around his hips, to the bed and climbed on top of him, continuing their kissing, hands intertwined. They hadn't thought of locking the door, so when it opened, followed by a shrieked curse from Sam, as she turned covering her eyes and yelped a squeaked, "Sorry!" as she fumbled with the door. "I thought you were gone, I was looking for a towel, there aren't any in the other bathroom."

Sam's half-blonde, half-brown hair was a mess, the big t-shirt and pajama pants she'd worn to bed hung off her lithe frame like she was nothing but a clothes hanger.

Jonathan, who had frozen when she walked in, looked down at Reid, who was smiling and trying to hold back a laugh at Sam's expense. The blonde beneath him was now shirtless but Jonny wasn't sure when the long sleeved black shirt had been removed or when Reid had reached up and begun unbuttoning the green fabric that was covering his own inkless skin, but Reid's hands had fallen from that job at Sam's entrance.

"Get yourself one." Jonathan nodded toward the bathroom. Reid's hands were getting restless, running up and down his arms teasingly, thumbs drawing circles in the crook of his elbow. Sam scurried into the attached bathroom and retrieved the sought after terrycloth before running back through the room, one hand covering her eyes. The door was half way closed and their lips were almost touching again when she flung it back open, still covering her eyes. "Oh, um, so this," She motioned vaguely in the direction she supposed they were, she was a bit off but it was pretty much in the area of the bed on which they were situated. "Does it mean you aren't going to the food thing that you woke me up about?"

"Nope." Reid said restlessly, wiggling beneath Jonny. The brunette's hand on his hip, along with a glare that pleaded with Reid, stilled his moving

"Nope, it doesn't mean that or nope, you're not going?" Samantha clarified.

Reid almost growled in frustration. "Nope we're not going."

"Oh." She still didn't move from the doorway. "Well then I hate you because sleep has now deserted me and both of you are to blame." With a stamp of her foot she turned, eyes still covered, and walked away, finally, thankfully, shutting the door on her way.

* * *

His hand still fit in hers perfectly, Pogue found as he slid up behind Kate and intertwined his hand with hers. She turned around and gave him a long cold stare, though did nothing to remove his fingers from her hand.

"Hello Pogue." Her tone was formal, not the usual greeting of an enthusiastic smile and her call of, "Hey Baby," but better than he had expected, to be cursed out in the middle of the reunion. The sick feeling at the base of his stomach didn't dissipate yet, they were only two words in and he had yet to open his mouth.

"Hey Kate," The greeting squeaked out, it was all he could manage. He hadn't seen her in two years all he wanted to do was hold her, kiss her, but he couldn't, he'd ruined everything.

_And whose fault is that?_, the little voice in his head, the one that sound exactly like Kate when she was mad, spoke up.

She raised her eyebrows staring at their intertwined fingers and then back up at him, staring right through him with her cutting gaze.

"Well," She said after a significant pause that it was obvious he should have filled but hadn't. "Lets go talk somewhere I guess."

The steps in front of the dorms, the same ones where they had met freshman year, the ones she'd run down to meet him at his bike, the site of their first kiss, were still as cracked, faded and old as they'd been ten years ago. Their lives together started on these steps, and now Pogue had a knowing feeling that Pogue and Kate, the forever couple, were over, for good. This time there were documents and signatures and lawyers involved. Now it cost money to rip his heart to shreds, something little Kate Tunney had been very good at from a young age.

"How are you?" She asked him once they were sitting on the steps, her hand still in his. He was beginning to think that it was more out of habit than forgiveness.

He nodded, not fully trusting his vocal chords. "Good." He said.

Her eyes searched him, looking for the change in him. He was a bit more quiet and distant, but those were things she could write off as his nerves, what she couldn't over look was the curve of muscle beneath his shirt. He had never lost his defined muscles or the washboard abs that she adored, but now she couldn't love the powerful arms, the strength of his back, the magical six pack. Now they were stolen and illegal, unhealthy. She was disappointed in him, and angry, really angry, but more than anything she couldn't help but want him back.

_He left you alone with Jake for two years to go chase some over grown dream and get addicted to steroids. _The voice in her head sounded like her mother, an old Manhattan type who'd been born and raised on the Upper East Side and had never fully approved of Pogue, despite his family's old money.

"How about you? And Jake?" He asked her. She smiled at the mention of their son. "Jake's good, he's doing really great in school, his teacher loves him, she's a charmer, like his dad." She winked at him and got the first smile from her husband. Soon to be ex-husband, she reminded herself, the thought dropped in her heart like a weight. _It's for the best._ The voice that sounded like her mom reminded her. _Think of all the hell he's put you through._

But that was the thing about Pogue, sitting here with him, holding his hand, she couldn't hardly remember why she'd ever wanted a divorce, why she was so mad at him. It would be so easy to just forgive him, kiss him, hold on tight and let him lead the way, as she always had. A glance at her left hand, the one not in his, where her bare third finger sat, looking empty without the rings that had adorned it for eight years, brought more mixed emotions than answers.

"Can I come over and see him, maybe this afternoon?" He was still sort of smiling so she smiled too, there was no harm in that.

"Yeah, he'd love to see you." The words rolled off her tongue effortlessly, but it took some biting of her lips to keep in anything about herself and how much she'd love for him to come over, or about how long it'd been since Pogue had seen his son. She was confusing herself and it was beginning to make her dizzy, it was like watching an internal tennis match. She needed to get her head on straight pronto, because Pogue Parry had majored in charming, with a minor in sad, puppy dog looks, that begged for forgiveness. She had fallen hard for that charm long ago and since then given that sad, beautiful face too many chances. If only she could make herself let go.


	4. Chapter 3: Saturday, part 2

Sam had always believed that inverting her brain helped clear her mind of unwanted thoughts. Like the odd, angry feeling left in the pit of her stomach and the bitter taste in her mouth. The top of her head rested on a pillow on the floor and her heels were balanced against the wall. Headstands were perfect positions for thinking and as she let the blood pool in her head, she began to let herself think through the steps that had led her here, to this big mansion on a hill where her brother and his lover, her ex, were having sex in one of the upper rooms. Did it begin with her eviction from her apartment two months ago and Reid and Jonathan letting her crash in their guest room, but making her come to Ipswich with them, not trusting her in their apartment alone? Or was it before that, when she'd met the charming Reid Garwin outside a club in Vegas and let his scruffy look, like a stray puppy lost on the street, sweep her off her usually firmly planted feet? Or was it when she'd come home to announce her engagement to her family at Christmas and saw, from the first time they met eyes, that her brother and her fiancé were going to break her heart.

With a heavy sigh she kicked herself down, shaking her limbs to get the blood flowing again. Though her problems had yet to be thought through, her hungry stomach was winning the battle of priorities. She raided the kitchen but came up empty. There was food to make food, but as Jonathan had stolen all the culinary genes of the family she could hardly handle cereal. The keys to the Ferrari were sitting on the table by the door, along with Jonathan's wallet. It was a temptation no chocolate deprived girl should have to endure.

The candy isle at the nearest convenience store was full of the usual colorful assortment of chocolate treats Sam was holding two of these, one a plain chocolate bar, the other full of things to make candy more exciting. She was focusing her attention to this, small decisions to blockade thoughts of Reid when they'd been together. She didn't love him anymore, not like that anyway, she was just lonely and missed having someone look at her the way Jonathan and Reid looked at each other. It was a painful thing to be alone; it was a void only able to be filled with food the by definition was bad for you. Both candy bars were chosen, finally and she resigned herself to trying to remember the route back to the Garwin Mansion without thinking about the people in it.

She wasn't particularly watching where she was going, so she didn't see the young, brunette man standing a few feet down the row, considering the candy, as she had been moments ago, until she walked into his shoulder and nearly lost her balance. Luckily Tyler Simms was paying enough attention to grab her before she fell. He held her in a position like that of one being dipped by a dance partner, both hands splayed across her back and his face dangerously close to hers, noses only inches apart.

"Hi." She said.

"Hi." He said.

"Thanks for catching me." She said as he steadied her on her feet. He bent to collect her candy and the keys that had fallen from her hand.

"No problem," He smiled, it was a charming look. Sam titled her head to one side, this guy looked vaguely familiar, but impossible to place. But those eyes, so blue, she wouldn't be able to forget them. "Tyler." A hand was outstretched and Sam fit hers into his. "You're Jonathan's sister, right? Samantha? You were at Caleb's last night?

"That's who you are," Sam said decisively. "I couldn't figure it out." She smiled in that way she did and a small one appeared on Tyler's as well. That was what she did to boys, pulled them under the water before they'd even decided to go for a swim.

"Funny." He said dryly. "Because I can't figure that one out either." He bent to grab the six-pack of beer bottles at his feet. Sam ran her tongue over her teeth as she watched him walk away. Tyler Simms. Oh dear, Tyler Simms. He, like every boy before him, was going to drown in the unsteady waters of Samantha McCauley.

* * *

Caleb was tired. Michael was screaming, as he was doing

Caleb was tired. Michael was screaming, as he was doing more often and with less reason lately. Meredith was holding him to her chest tightly, silently crying herself. Caleb had left them that way over an hour ago and if the previous weeks were of any reference, they were exactly where they had been before.

He was in his office; hunched over his work, desperate to have it all make sense. His coffee had long turned cold in its mug. Even his Harvard Law degree didn't touch this case, it was full of twists and turns and, he was nearly positive, a massive amount of lies from all sides. Frustrated, he snapped the folder shut and pushed it away. Maybe he'd give it to a group of interns to work on, for extra credit or whatever those idiots were working toward. Surely he hadn't been that stupid during his interning days, he refused to believe he had ever been so awful at his job.

The door to the office opened, it was Pogue, face blank, and hands in his pockets. "How's it coming?"

Caleb sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "Not at all, really." He looked up at his friend who was studying the framed degrees that hung on the wall. "How'd it go with Kate?"

"Alright, I guess." Pogue had always been a man of few words but since returning from Arizona, getting full sentences from his was like pulling teeth.

"Did you know Reid was getting married?" Caleb asked, using the end of a pen to push the case file farther away, out of his line of sight, he didn't want to think about it anymore.

Pogue grinned, "Really?" Caleb nodded, rising from his desk and stretching his sore muscles, God he was tense. "I thought it was illegal." Pogue said, with a laugh, running a hand through his long hair.

Caleb snapped a look at his best friend, "I know its a bit ludicrous for Reid to settle down, but illegal, really? Sam seems like a very… nice girl. She isn't _sane_, by any means, but neither is Reid, so it might work out. He needs an heir after all."

"Sam?" Pogue asked with a blank stare. "Who's she?"

"My point exactly, Tyler didn't know her either, but he knew that guy that came with them. Sam's brother, what's his name?" The last part was mainly to himself. He snapped his fingers in a vain attempt to bring the name to the front of his over-worked mind.

"Jonathan?" Pogue offered anyway.

"Yeah,Yes. Ddo you know him?" Caleb came out from behind his desk and stood next to Pogue, on the wall, other than degrees, were two framed pictures. One of him, Meredith and the boys from last year's Christmas card, and one of the Sons. It had been taken just before senior year, before everything went to hell. The shot was hardly perfect, all four of them crammed into the frame, Reid was talking, his mouth blurred, Tyler was the only one looking at the camera, but they were all laughing and they looked _happy_. It was hard to imagine that only two weeks later Caleb would fight Chase, only a few months later Reid's mom would die, he and Tyler would fight, that the four of them would break apart, off to their different colleges and lives. They had never again been close like they had then, not just friends but brothers.

"Might've met him once." Pogue's voice was thoughtful, the corners of his mouth turned up a bit in the corners. God, Reid was an idiot.

"Can I borrow a car?" Pogue asked suddenly a few seconds later.

Caleb's eyebrows came together, "Sure." He went around his desk. Opening a drawer, he pulled out a pair of keys he didn't use very often anymore. They were just his good luck charm now, and luck might be Pogue's only hope. "Take the Mustang." He tossed Pogue the keys. Pogue nodded and headed for the door as Caleb situated himself behind his desk again and prepared to tackle the large task of the case in the folder. "And tell Jake I say hey." He called to Pogue's back, opening the folder with a sigh.

Pogue shot Caleb a look over his shoulder but then, shaking his head, stepped out of the room and closed the door, quieting Michael's yells, though they were still plenty audible.

* * *

"Can I ask you a question?" Reid's voice held a soft quality it only ever possessed in moments like these. Jonathan shifted behind him, his arms pulling Reid's bare back closer to his chest.

"Of course, baby." Jonathan only ever called him 'baby' if they were lying in bed together. They weren't much for pet names but it was easy to put up with the endearments while wrapped in each other's arms. Reid moved so that he was lying on his back, staring up at his boyfriend, who was still laying on his side.

"You remember the day we met? The first thing you ever said to me?" Jonathan's hand was lying on Reid's pale, tattooed stomach, the blonde turned it palm-up and traced the lines with his index finger.

"Why do you want to talk about that?" Jonny asked, moving so that he could hover over Reid, kissing his neck. The white sheets of the bed clung to his back, covering their bare forms.

"I don't know, it's hard to not think about it sometimes, I mean, me and her, we _were_ engaged, y'know?"

"Believe me baby, I know." He wasn't really paying attention, he wanted Reid off this subject.

"It's just that I did break her heart and your brother, Marcus, I thought that guy was going to _kill_ me, but…" He trailed off as Jonathan stopped the wonderful sucking on his neck and looked him hard in the eyes.

"I don't wanna talk about this." He told Reid softly before slipping out of the bed and beginning to get dressed.

Reid sat up in bed, letting the blankets fall down around him, his pale skin glowed from behind his tattoos in the darkness of the room. If there was on thing Reid knew, it was how to make himself irresistible. Jonathan slipped a shirt over his head and kneeled on the bed next to his lover.

"I love you." He told Reid, his voice serious, love was nothing to joke about in his mind, it was the most important thing.

"I love you too." Reid smirked. Jonathan roughly grabbed hold of the blonde's chin and quickly pressed his lips to Reid's, he pulled back slightly and winked before leaving the room. As the door swung shut, Reid fell back against the pillows, a smile crept over his face, his teeth biting briefly at his bottom lip. Damn, he loved that man.

* * *

_The year was 2013, almost 2014, it was December 31. Pogue was twenty-five, still riding the high that came with winning gold at the Olympics, even though more than a year had passed since then. He was on top of the world nothing could touch him._

"_It's raining, just stay the night. You know I don't care." Reid, living in New York after a quick and seemingly reasonless move across the country only days before. Pogue didn't know why the kid didn't just come home, what drew him so suddenly to the Big Apple after a year in Sin City. He'd known Reid his whole life and he knew better then to ask the guy's reasoning, if there was any._

_Pogue had traveled the five awful hours between Ipswich and New York on his bike to see Reid, it'd been a while, with the blonde living on the other side of the country, and he'd had an especially nasty fight with Kate, making Ipswich completely unappealing. It was late and he should have left hours ago and now, it was raining buckets._

"_It's nothing I can't handle. I live in Ipswich, remember? Rainiest place on earth." He smiled back at Reid, who was sprawled across the couch and looking too drunk to stand. Pogue hadn't had nearly as much as him, he was fine to drive, he told himself that anyway._

_He'd just gotten out of the worst of the 24-hour traffic hell of NYC when it happened. The road was wet and the blood alcohol test the police gave him later showed that he was much drunker than expected. All it was a slip of his hand on the sodden handlebars, a trucker who wasn't paying attention, and one long, dark, wet road._

_Five people were killed in the accident: a young couple in a SUV and their one-year-old in the backseat were crushed when the semi trailer fell sideways, the trucker had been ejected and flown into the opposite lane were the oncoming cars drove on, oblivious. A man driving alone from the city back to New Jersey, he was married, had young kids at home, he drove into the accident, the brakes on his old car squealing and the tires spinning as he tried to stop on the slick highway._

_Pogue knew he was at fault in all of this, he'd lost control of his bike, sending him swerving dangerously across the lanes. His injuries were minimal, especially compared to what could have happened. A broken leg, a dislocated shoulder, a few cracked ribs, and a bump on the back of his head the size of Texas, could have been worse. Should have been worse._

_It was the days when Kate was in school, he was always training, and they were always fighting. The crash was their breaking point and they decided to separate. Kate moved back in with her parents until she graduated and Caleb and Meredith let him stay with them for a while. The house they'd shared left sitting empty._

_The few months apart seemed to be exactly what the two of them needed. They picked up where they'd left off, but the relationship seemed healthier, at least they didn't fight as much. It was a better environment for Jake, who was then five and just starting kindergarten. But things were never the same as they used to be, the love from before was gone, he still loved her, always, but everything was different since the accident._

_In time they found new things to fight about, he was frustrated, his times sucked, his body refusing to bounce back the way it used to. His coach was hinting at retiring due to injury, but he couldn't give up yet. Kate was always tired from work, and Jake, surely feeling ignored, had begun acting out. They were a time bomb, they were falling apart, and neither of them had the energy to collect the pieces. It was almost a relief when he left for Phoenix, it was meant to be a short break like the one before it, but then he'd gotten there, and he didn't want to go back, ever._

* * *

Pogue parked the mustang three blocks from the address Kate had given him. He needed time to collect his thoughts. What would he say? What _could _he say to win her back, to apologize. Was there anyway they could go back to being Pogue and Kate, like in the old days when it was easy to get lost in their love. Kate's father had once cornered him and told him with a straight face and a stern glare that they would grow out of this "puppy love". That they wouldn't last. Kate's rebellious phase would end and he would leave the picture completely. Had they out grow their love? Was their relationship based on nothing more than parental defiance? She had been pregnant, that was why they got married young, but he did love her, he did plan on marrying her, they time had just been shitty.

Pogue put the car back in drive and continued to her house. He wanted to salvage what was left of their marriage, but he was beginning to fear there wasn't enough of it left to scrape up from the ground.


End file.
